Chapter Ten
Matt missed the days of punching the hell out of his brothers for their stupidity.
Isaac lounged in the chair on the far side of his desk, bottom lip stuck out like a four-year old. “He didn’t have the pipe. I thought it would be better to have him off-site. I made a judgment call.”
You made the wrong one. Matt swallowed the bellow. “Ordinarily, I would agree with you. But that plumber has too many jobs lined up right now and he’ll take any gap we give him. Did you get a date when he’ll be back on-site?”
Isaac shifted in his seat and stared out the window at the near-empty parking lot. “He said he’d be back.”
“But when, Isaac? We built this business by meeting our deadlines. I’m not going to let that slip now.”
“You built this business,” Isaac said, almost too soft to catch.
How many times were they going to go through this? “Isaac, if you want out, nobody is keeping you here.”
“And do what?” Isaac’s gaze swung back to him. Anger simmered in his eyes. “We both know I didn’t make two years in college.”
Somehow this was Matt’s fault too. Along with the fact that Isaac hated this job. He couldn’t figure Isaac out, didn’t know how to give him what he needed. Bone-tired snuck up on Matt and lodged behind his eyes. “I can’t talk about this now. I’m due at Mrs. St. Amor’s place.”
“Surprise, surprise.” Isaac glared at him across the desk. “You’re like that crazy old broad’s lap dog. Or maybe there’s another reason you’re in such a hurry to get over there?”
The Ghost Falls jungle drums had been doing their thing. Pulling up to Bets’s shop with Pippa in the car was the equivalent to taking out an ad on the front page of the Falls Crier. He’d also made no secret of his long-standing crush on Pippa. “You got something to say?”
“Nope.” Isaac folded his arms over his chest. “I said all I wanted.”
Matt studied his brother’s set, bitter face and the yell of frustration clogged up like a bad steak in his throat. When had they gotten to this, him and Isaac? When had Isaac stopped looking up to his big brother, and put the blame for all the shit in their lives at Matt’s feet instead?
Matt was so sick of it. Their father died, tough break, but they’d all lost a dad, not just Isaac. There’d been no time for Matt to grieve. He’d been nineteen and responsible for his four younger siblings. Yeah, he’d screwed up a thing or two. Okay, he’d screwed up a lot, but kids didn’t come with a step-by-step guide, and he’d tossed his energy behind putting food on their table. Turned down his scholarship to Utah State, because that’s how their dad raised them. Man up, do what you have to do. No excuses, no whining.
The irony of his internal whining didn’t escape him. Isaac had gotten less of their dad’s attention than any of them. Even though Jo was the youngest, she was Daddy’s girl. While Isaac was growing up, Dad had been too busy keeping his struggling construction company afloat. The others were still clueless as to how close they’d come to losing everything. Eric may have suspected, because he was a sharp son of a bitch, but the others didn’t know and Matt aimed to keep it that way.
Isaac wasn’t wrong about the something else luring him to Phi’s. He had to get to Phi’s because she hated men on-site without him. But the idea of Pippa being there put a little more fire in his belly. Before Pippa left town this time, Matt had plans for her and her smokin’ body. Even the thought got him a bit hot. Isaac’s sulky face worked better than a cold shower.
“You know how much I owe that crazy old broad.” He gentled his tone. He didn’t want to get into it with Isaac. “If this doesn’t work for you and you want to do something else, we can talk about it later.”
“Jesus, Matt.” Isaac lurched out of his chair, his body tight with anger. “You sound like a guidance counselor. Just give it a fucking rest.”
“Well, this is like a time warp.” A voice they both knew well came from the door.
Matt spun around.
Eric stood in the doorway, dressed in the fanciest suit Matt had ever seen. He didn’t know much about suits, but he’d bet the farm this one had a price tag on it that would make his eyes water.
Pippa would know who made that suit.
Shit, he’d missed his pain-in-the-ass brother. Matt stepped toward him, Eric met him halfway, and they did that awkward half-hug, slap-on-the-back thing. Women had it so much easier. They just hugged and kissed and got it done.
“You look good.” Matt stepped back and eyed Eric. And he did. Eric had been working out. That pound on the shoulders nearly knocked the air right out of him.
“So do you.” Eric turned to do the same man-I’m-really-glad-to-see-you pounding thing with Isaac.
“Well, look at you.” Isaac whistled through his teeth. “All dressed up and pretty.”
“Shut up.” Eric grinned. “I see you two assholes are still fighting.”
“Can’t let my older brothers walk all over me.” Isaac shot a loaded look in Matt’s direction. What was up with that anyway?
They chatted a bit. Ragged on Eric some more for his fancy duds, and then Isaac excused himself with another death glare at Matt.
Eric twitched the seam of his fancy suit pants and took the seat Isaac had shot out of earlier. He raised his brow at Matt. “So, Isaac?”
“He’ll get over himself.” Maybe, but talking this shit over wasn’t going to make it go away. “I couldn’t believe it when Jo told me you were coming home for her wedding.”
“Seriously, Matt?” Eric’s gaze, eyes a darker brown than his, met his over the desk. “She’s my sister, too. Where the hell else would I be when she got married?”
When he put it like that, Eric had a point.
“Anyway, what the hell is up with Jo getting married? That asshole?” Classic Eric, straight to the point.
A little something unraveled in Matt’s chest. He could talk to Eric. They butted heads a lot, but Eric understood responsibility. “She says she loves him.”
Eric shook his head. “Can he even support her?”
The muscles in his neck tightened at Eric’s question. “Who the hell knows, but Jo doesn’t care. She’ll work beside him and they’ll be partners.”
“Fuck.” Eric breathed long and slow. “Should I kidnap her and drag her back to Denver with me?”
Yes, yelled the primal big brother inside him. He laughed and shook his head. “You know Jo.”
“Yeah.”
Mrs. Cameron bustled through the door, breaking the awkward silence. “Eric Evans.” She put the tray on Matt’s desk and turned to stare at Eric. “Well, look at you.”
Eric stood when she entered. He grinned at the older woman. “Hey, Mrs. Cameron.”
Matt flat-out stared as Mrs. Cameron went all pink and giggled. How the hell did Eric do that? Nate was the looker, Isaac the joker, and him? He didn’t really know. Mr. Responsible, maybe? But Eric had the magic. Could weave a spell around any woman within fifty feet. He could turn it on like a faucet, and you could hear the knees weakening.
“Are you staying long?” Matt could have kissed Mrs. Cameron for asking what he’d like to know.
“I have some time.” Eric gave her the player smile again. “I’m here for Jo’s wedding and to have a chat with my big brother.”
“Hmph!” Mrs. Cameron could pretend all she liked, but she was melting like she always did. “See if you can talk him into not working quite so hard.”
Say what? Matt stared at her rigid back as she clumped out of his office.
“Mrs. Cameron is working for you?” Eric raised a dark brow. “Does she make you write lines if you piss her off?”
“I try not to piss her off.”
They shared a look. One of those snatches into boyhood that he didn’t get a lot of. It felt good. “She got laid off a couple of years ago with the school board cutting costs. She supports her mother and that waste of space son of hers. I offered and she took it.”
Eric cocked his head and studied him like he was a bug on Eric’s windshield. “You’re a good guy, Matt.”
Mr. Responsible? The good guy? These are not things that got a man laid. He shrugged off the compliment. “You wanted to talk to me about something?”
Eric glanced behind him at the busy office. “You up for this now?”
“Sure.” Matt got that tight feeling in his gut. Eric had something big on his mind. “I have to go and see Phi in a bit, but I have five minutes.”
Eric’s face split into a genuine smile. “How the hell is the Diva?”
“The same.” Phi was reliable as clockwork in her eccentricity. “Still a pain in my ass, demanding I go over there every time she needs a lightbulb changed.”
Eric chuckled. He got it. He didn’t ask why Matt still went. He understood obligation and honoring a debt.
“What’s on your mind?” Matt liked to get straight to the point. They were the same in this, too.
“You.” Eric sipped his coffee. “I want you to partner with me on something.”
Matt sat back in his chair. Not sure he’d heard right. Along with the lady-killer smile, Eric had the family money gene. He worked hard, sure, but lots of people worked hard. Eric had this way of seeing a deal coming five miles off. And maybe he’d lost his mind a little as well.
“In Denver?”
“Doesn’t have to be Denver.” Eric shrugged. “But it would help if you could be closer to my office.”
Definitely lost the plot. How could Matt leave Ghost Falls? Shit, his family got into enough crap when he was around. God only knew what they could manage if he was in Denver. “Eric.” He stared his brother down. “I can’t leave Ghost Falls. You know that.”
“No.” Eric eased back in his chair. “I know you think you can’t leave Ghost Falls. It’s not the same thing.”
Wouldn’t that be great if he believed it? He shook his head and laughed, not that he found it funny, but the conversation was making his gut clench. “Who would look after the family if I left? You?”
Eric’s eyes flashed at the subtle taunt. Surprisingly, he kept his cool. “Maybe they don’t need anyone to take care of them anymore. Isaac is grown, Jo’s getting married. Shit, even Nate has got his crap sorted now.”
“And Mom?” His words hung in the air between them.
Eric shifted in his seat. “Look, hear me out before you shoot me down.”
“Okay.” Matt sat back in his chair. Whether he agreed or not, Eric would have his say.
Eric leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “This area is about to hit a boom.” The old razzle-dazzle tone crept into Eric’s voice. It was impressive, and even Matt wasn’t totally immune. “The view, the whole quality-of-life thing. You have Denver and Salt Lake City within a couple of hours from you. There’s money to be made here and I want in before other people start paying attention.”
“You planning on developing Ghost Falls? McMansions and strip malls?” That stuck in Matt’s craw. The place might be small and kind of lost, but they liked it that way. For the most part.
Eric read him like a book. “Don’t get that face, Matt. I was raised here, and I’m not going to blast in like some big property developer and turn it into a crappy suburb of Salt Lake City. I want to do this right, do it well, and in a way that benefits me and the town. And I want you to do it with me.”
A tingle teased along Matt’s spine. Now his brother had him even considering the idea. Sure, he did well enough. Business was steady, but Eric was talking major growth, for the town and everyone in it. “If what you say is true, then I would benefit from being just about the only contractor in town.”
Eric reached inside his coat and pulled a thumb drive from the inside pocket. “You’ve done great with this business, Matt, don’t get me wrong. But you can field, what, five crews?”
“Four full. Six if I subcontract.”
“I’m talking hundreds of homes here. And businesses and services around them.” Eric slapped the drive on his desk. “Just take a look at that. Before you turn me down. Look at that, and think about it. I can run this without you, but I’d rather do it with you. You’re here, you know the town even better than I do and I trust you.”
The tingle morphed into a slither of excitement. Matt liked what he did, but the feeling of being trapped was still there. Eric scratched it all up again and made him twitchy. “I can’t leave Ghost Falls.”
“Matt.” Eric sat back again, his face deadly serious. “You turned down a football scholarship for the family. Don’t be a stupid dick and turn this down too.”
Anger, hot and sharp, surged to the surface. Eric with his expensive duds and big-city attitude coming in here and passing judgment. Man, that bit.
“I don’t want to fight.” Eric held his hands in front of him.
Matt still wanted to take his head off, but they were in their thirties now. Generally, you needed to think before you threw a punch. “I did what I had to do.”
“I know that.” Eric stood and pushed the thumb drive closer. “And nobody knows better than me what that cost you. This.” He tapped the drive. “This is for you. This is your second chance and don’t piss it away because you want to take a swing at me.”
Of course, Eric would know that look on his face. It actually made him laugh. They were only a year apart; they read each other easily. And before he could think it through anymore, he nodded. “I’ll take a look.”
“And we can talk further?”
“I’ll take a look.” Eric was a pushy bastard. If you gave him an inch, he’d take the whole damn mile. Still, the drive lay small and innocuous against the burgundy leather of his desk blotter. A chance for him. A chance for something more than Ghost Falls and Mr. Responsible. His finger closed around the drive. “You know it’s pointless.”
“I know you think so.” Annoying son of a bitch. Eric grinned at him. “Now, why don’t you take me on a ride along. Time to get reacquainted with the Diva.”
Eric used to chip in with the construction crew in the summer before he started college. He was a great favorite with Phi.
Matt shoved the drive in his pocket and got a cocky grin from Eric. “Just looking.”
“Look carefully.”
* * *
Pippa’s belly did an honest to God flutter as Matt’s truck pulled into the kitchen yard. He climbed out, tall and broad, and stopped a moment to chat with the kid Phi had walking her rescue horses around the yard. The sorry-looking nag, fur moth-eaten, dragged its feet like it was off to meet its Maker. Still, Phi gave her horses the same sort of love she would a thoroughbred. Made their last years on earth happy ones.
“Is that Mathieu?” Phi trotted into the kitchen.
As if she hadn’t been calling the guy all morning. “Yes.”
“Who’s that with him?”
Funny thing, Pippa hadn’t noticed anyone with Matt. And more the fool her, because that someone was dressed in Hugo Boss—if she guessed right and she nearly always did—and smoked across the yard like a GQ center spread.
“Eric?” Phi squealed and nipped out the door as if she were half her age. She had her arms open wide as she approached the eleven. The eleven notched up to twelve with a smile that made Pippa’s knees buckle.
“There’s my diva.” He enfolded her grandmother in a hug. Phi was a tall woman but Eric Evans made her look like a young girl. Phi was giggling like one too.
“You’re such a flirt.” Phi slapped him on the arm. “Don’t ever stop. At my age, a girl needs something to look forward to.”
“Hey.” Matt’s whisky baritone dragged her eyes away from the window.
A giggle built in Pippa as color rushed to her face. He leaned against the doorframe, wearing a sexy, naughty grin that catapulted her straight back to last night and made her want to rub up against him like a cat. “Hey, yourself.”
“I brought Eric.” He jerked his head to where Phi was still firing questions at Eric.
“I see that.”
“He came in this morning. Surprised Isaac and me.”
“Pippa Turner.” Eric shouldered his way past Matt and entered the kitchen in a swath of cashmere and charm. “Or should I say Pippa St. Amor?”
That smile should be condemned as deadly. “You can say whatever the hell you like as long as it’s followed by how good it is to see me.”
Eric flashed perfect teeth in his tanned, carved face. Yup, definitely a threat to women everywhere. “It’s always a pleasure to see those legs, Pippa. And the rest of you.” He swept her into a citrus man-scented hug. “How the hell have you been?”
“She’s been great,” Matt said. “And you can put her down now.”
“Oh, Mathieu.” Phi bustled into the kitchen. “Stop peeing on Pippa’s leg and let’s have a drink.”
“It’s ten in the morning.” Pippa disentangled herself from Eric. Matt stood beside Phi and glared at the back of his brother’s head.
“And?” Phi hauled glasses out of the cupboard. “Where does it say we cannot drink to celebrate the return of the prodigal?”
“How am I the prodigal?” Eric’s dark eyes were still doing a thorough inventory of Pippa. Normally, she’d have given any ogling jerk-off a good reason to keep his eyes to himself, but Eric had a way of doing it that was totally non-creepy and made a girl want to prance like a show pony. Except, her attention was more on Matt, and the thunderous look on his face.
If Matt had been giving her the same ogle Eric was, she’d be shoving him up against the wall and demanding he deliver on the silent promise. And she was supposed to be keeping her distance.
Pippa went to fetch the champagne. Fortunately, Phi was not much of a drinker. Despite her big talk.
Eric shrugged out of his beautifully cut coat and laid it over the back of a chair.
Phi squealed and grabbed his arm. “Eric, is that a tattoo? Show me.”
God, her grandmother was irrepressible. Pippa threw Eric an apologetic look. “You don’t have to.”
“Yes, he does,” said Phi.
Eric chuckled and rolled back his sleeve with sharp, decisive wrist turns. “I had it done a while back.”
Tanned, muscular forearm appeared under the crisp, white shirt. The kind of arms a girl would like to gnaw on. Pippa stepped closer to get a better look. At the tattoo.
“I have more ink.” Eric grinned at her. “Wanna see?”
The Evans flirt for sure and up to his old tricks. It made her laugh.
“I’ll leave you to catch up with Eric.” Matt shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to check out how my guys are doing.”
“Oh.” Phi swung back toward him. “They did a wonderful job. Such nice boys. You can send those ones around anytime. The dark one.” Phi shivered and went pink. “I do like a man built like he could toss you around the bedroom.”
“Right.” Pippa cut this short, before Phi elaborated. “So, Eric, tell us what you’ve been doing.”
Matt stopped with the baize door half held open. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait to hear what Eric’s been doing. I need you to show me the problem.”
She swung around and stared at him. Matt knew exactly what the problem was. He’d seen it last night.
“You’d best go.” Eric gave her a prod in the back. “My brother’s getting territorial.”
Was he? Matt’s jaw could break rock it was so tight. His eyes bored into her, daring her to refuse. It shouldn’t be at all thrilling, but it kind of was, and very flattering. She followed his fine ass out the kitchen and up the stairs. Heat burned below her skin. She hadn’t taken full advantage of her chance to get her hands on that ass last night. Next time—
Wasn’t she the one explaining to Phi an hour ago how she needed to nip this thing in the bud? Now she was building scenarios in which she could get both tight butt cheeks in her hands.
Matt strode into her bedroom and went right to the leak.
His men had plastered it over, and Pippa could only barely discern the sheen of new paint. She joined him, letting her eyes stray along the strong column of his neck. It tasted as good as it looked. Pippa cleared her thick throat. “They did a good job.”
“Yup.” Matt grabbed a small set of steps propped against the wall and one-handed them over to the spot. He stretched up and lightly touched the repair. Where to look first? The inch of ripped stomach exposed by his tee riding up, or the convenient eyeful of package right in front of her. She had that pressed against her last night too. Damn it! She was never a crotch watcher. What the hell was she doing? “Um, Matt?”
“Yup.” He ran his fore- and middle fingers over the plasterwork. Magic fingers. “Matt, can we talk?”
He looked down at her. Topaz eyes, guarded and watchful as they studied her. “Okay.”
“About last night.”
“Ah.” He dropped his hand and descended the steps. He put them neatly against the wall beside a closed paint can and a tool-strewn tarp. “I’ll take those away with me when I go.” He folded his arms over his chest and lowered his chin, almost to his chest. The age-old man pose for getting ready for a verbal takedown.
“Last night was . . . great.”
His stare didn’t waver. “And?”
“Why do you think there’s an and?” She played for time.
He shrugged one shoulder. “Because with a girl like you, Pippa, there’s always an and.”
“I’m a woman not a girl.”
“Duly noted.”
And he was back to staring at her. “I don’t think . . . I mean, I’m sure that we shouldn’t . . .” If he’d help her out here, this would be so much easier. “I’m not looking for anything right now.”
He dipped his head to stare at the ground and raised it. “By ‘anything’ you mean what? A relationship? Sex? More crazy hot making out?”
“A relationship?” Pippa pounced on the word with a long exhale.
“But making out some more is good?” He shoved his hands into his pockets.
“What? . . . Um . . .”
“How about sex?”
“Yes. No. You’re messing with me.” She caught the telltale gleam in those wicked, gold eyes.
“Yeah, Pippa, I’m messing with you.” He strode toward her, gripped her arms, and tugged her closer. “I didn’t like you flirting with my brother.”
“Everyone flirts with Eric.”
“True.” His grip on her arms was nice, secure and firm. The whiff of laundry detergent and musky male went straight to her knees. She put her hands against the hard ridge of his pecs. Seriously nice. She allowed her fingers to drift a bit.
“Last night was hot.” He crowded closer. “I had wood for hours.” Her sex clenched in response. “I’ve wanted to make out with you for years, and it was everything I imagined and more. But”—he dipped his head and pressed his forehead against hers—“I know you have a life and career, and you’ll be getting back to it. My life is here in Ghost Falls.” He slid his nose along her cheek until his breath huffed hot and ragged in her ear. “But if you want to mess around until you go, or maybe more, maybe less. I’m good with that.” He sucked the lobe of her ear into his mouth. Hot and wet. “I’m so down with that.”
Her body was so down with that too. She leaned into him. Her breasts swelled against the hard line of his chest. And she got her hands on that tight, gorgeous ass. “Okay.”
“Okay what?” He bit her ear, hard enough to get her attention.
“We can mess around. Maybe more.”
“Maybe a lot more.” He pushed the hard ridge of his cock against her belly.
Man, that was not fighting fair. She hadn’t had sex in so long, and he was hard and beautiful and big. She rubbed against his erection. No choice, had to be done. “Okay. But nothing serious, because I don’t do serious.”
He groaned and stepped back. “Nothing serious, but not with your grandmother and my brother downstairs at the time.” He palmed his erection and adjusted himself with a slight wince. Ah, hell, she wanted to do that. “Pippa, babe.” His voice husky and horny. “You gotta get that look off your face.”
“Right.” She shook her head to clear it. “You’re right.”
“Tell me about your plan to take your career back.”
“Hm?”
“Your plan.” A grin split his face. “Your plan to get back in the game.”
“How do you know I have a plan?”
“Pippa.” He shook his head slowly from side to side. “You always have a plan.”
Except now, with him. No plan. Clueless.